Report: BG to sell Gaza gas field – Haaretz

The company hopes to receive $70 million to $80 million for its share in the Gaza coast field, Bloomberg stated. It intends to sell $5 billion in assets over the next two years.
By Avi Bar-Eli

BG intends to sell its 90% holding in the Gaza Marine natural gas field because Israel won’t let it develop it, Bloomberg reported over the weekend.

The company hopes to receive $70 million to $80 million for its share in the Gaza coast field, Bloomberg stated. It intends to sell $5 billion in assets over the next two years.

The company had been negotiating to sell gas from the field to Israel, but ended talks in 2008 over what it called price differences. Renewed talks stalled over disagreements regarding who owned the field and how payment would be delivered, in order to ensure that no money went to Palestinian terror groups.

While BG argued that Israel was blocking it from developing the field, it negotiated with potential Israeli buyers including the Israel Electric Corporation. Negotiations renewed a year ago, but went nowhere.

The company’s spokesman declined to respond.

The field was discovered in the late 1990s. Israel gave it to the Palestinian Authority a decade ago. It is thought to contain 30 billion cubic meters of gas.